Carroll County Delegate Justin Ready talks about when he learned a vacant Army Reserve center in his district might be used to house illegal immigrants. Download This File

The Obama Administration is considering a vacant Army Reserve Center in Westminster to temporarily house some of the thousands of undocumented children from Central America who have entered the United States illegally.

The vacant facility is located in the 400-block of Malcolm Drive in Westminster.

Three were no demonstrations yet in Westminster, but the opposition is just as strong as elsewhere in the country. Elected officials in Carroll County vehemently oppose using the building, even temporarily. The Department of Health and Human Services would handle the operation.

"I don't think it's the right place. I don't think it's the right time. The bottom line is the community doesn't want it. The representatives in Congress don't want it the Department of Health and Human Services shouldn't be looking at it," said U.S. Rep. Andy Harris, R-District 1.

Harris said if the Obama administration ignores the local opposition, he's prepared to use his position on the House Appropriations Committee to stop the proposal from going further.

"We have the Health and Human Services Appropriations Bill coming to my subcommittee in two weeks. If necessary, I will put a rider on that bill that doesn't allow it to spend money in Carroll County, not for that kind of center," Harris said.

In addition to local and congressional opposition, the facility is not in move-in condition. The armory doesn't appear hospitable. The inside doesn't appear ready for visitors. The building has numerous small rooms.

Without knowing how many children could possibly be sent to Westminster and for how long, it's difficult to gauge what needs to renovated and at what cost.

Although Carroll County elected officials don't want an immigration shelter to open in Westminster, residents have mixed opinions.

"I think it is an OK idea if no harm comes of them," one resident told WBAL-TV.

"I wouldn't want to be stuck with that. You know, I'd feel like I was being forced to do something that I had no decision in making," another resident told 11 News.

When asked whether the children should be given refugee status and this be considered a humanitarian move, Harris said, "The most humanitarian thing we can do is take these children and reunite them with the families where they came from in Central America."

"For me there are two major questions - first, while I'm sure all local residents sympathize with the plight of many of these children, there is no assurance that they have undergone the proper health evaluations or background screenings because of the sheer numbers coming into the United States," Ready said in a statement from his office.

"My top concern is the safety of our community and that should be the top concern of the O'Malley-Brown administration as well."

"Second, our law enforcement agencies in Maryland have long had trouble deporting illegal immigrants who are caught committing minor offenses. Why hasn't the federal government considered this manner of housing for illegal immigrants waiting deportation? We should be bending over backwards to enforce our immigration laws rather than pulling out all the stops to house people who are intentionally breaking them," continued Ready.

This site is located in Democrat U.S. Rep. Chris Van Hollen's district. Bridgett Frey, a spokeswoman for Van Hollen, released a statement, saying, "Congressman Van Hollen believes Congress should immediately vote to provide the administration with the emergency funds it has requested to address the humanitarian crisis at the border. We must ensure the safe treatment of these young children while also making it clear that the United States does not have an open border. The congressman will consider proposed actions to determine whether they are consistent with those two objectives. Mr. Van Hollen also believes we are witnessing the consequences of failing to act on comprehensive immigration reform."